Stallone was reluctant to star in 'Grudge Match'

It was his co-star Robert De Niro, who convinced him to take up the film, reports contactmusic.com.

"I was being precious about 'Rocky'. I was very happy with the way it ended. But Bobby (Robert De Niro) just kept hammering away. Finally, he made sense.

"I talked to my wife and said, 'Maybe it would be interesting to take the good baggage and pit it against another iconic character because it'll never happen again'," Empire magazine quoted Stallone as saying.

Directed by Peter Segal, "Grudge Match" is a sports comedy, in which the veteran actors play boxing rivals.